by Ken Sklute
What’s the most recent assignment/project you did?
I have a number of ongoing projects as most of my work is self-assigned. Once a month I am out in the desert somewhere capturing a new image for my book projects and fine art sales. I was just out on the Arizona/California border photographing overnight. This image was created based upon the beautiful tree that I found on a previous outing to this area. Similarly, I have a longtime project of photographing the Amish. I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks flying a hot air balloon in the Lancaster, Pa. over the Amish farms, providing me spectacular viewpoints.
What have you done to adapt to the current situation as a photographer?
I have that opportunity to get out as conditions come together for strong images. The “pandemic” and my schedule are aligned and proving to give me the ability to get out there and create at will. The nice part about shooting nighttime landscapes is that the pandemic has very few planes in the air these days providing me a relatively clean canvas in which to create imagery.
What’s your go to camera setup?
My go to camera set-up is Canon, the 5D Mark IV, the 1DX Mark II and now the R5 with a 14mm 2.8 or 16-35mm 2.8 for night skies and the Canon 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 L lens for my balloon landscapes. For aerials, I am working with the DJI Mavic.
What f-stop gear you are using?
My go to bag is the Lotus! It carries my drone or when I am riding my Harley, the Lotus is my backseat passenger. For a good hike I am carrying my Shinn! It holds what I need and for the weight it is wonderfully balanced. I do have a third go to bag for my hot air balloon which is the Guru 25L. I have one more special use of the magnificently designed and well-built large ICU by itself (yes, no backpack) in order to have quick, total access to every inch during the often frantic storm chase monsoon season here in Arizona, keeping my cameras ready to go and safe as I drive to get ahead of storms or away from storms. It’s just a brilliant system!
My Lotus bag rides with me on my Harley as well as it is by my side on my side-by-side Artic Cat Wildcat for my needs as it keeps everything clean and safe riding through the dusty desert!
